The artists on this fund-raising comp all donated an unreleased guitar-piece to help the rural middle school where I teach purchase new basketball hoops and backboards for the outdoor courts. This was never a profit-making venture; it had a goal, and the combined lure of these 21 incredible musicians made it possible. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED in 2003. Thank you all!

The beautiful cover art is by Ben (Horrendous) Waters, a splendid, multi-talented British artist, musician, and friend. I would also like to thank Bryan Baker for being the first to make these discs available through his homemademusic.com. Several of these pieces were donated by members of the Captain Beefheart discussion group 'The Fire Party'.

Leo Didkovsky (Nick's son) - Kragro Man
Chuck Brown - Four Corners
Don Campau - The Low 3
Clang Quartet - Jomeokee
Wade Coldwater - Wade Alone (for Derek Bailey)
Al Destructo - System 19
Ernesto Diaz-Infante - Fidibus Canere
Nick Didkovsky - One's Child is Now the Gills
Fred Frith - Yui's Workout
Fred Hall - It's About Time, It's About Space
FunkmeisterG - The One-man Band Takes a Stand
Bret H. Hart - Bullwinkle Pond & the 5
Ben Horrendous - Spiralled Riotous Felicity
Bob Jordan - A Miner's Hat
Phil Kellogg - What the Dog Said
Mark Kissinger - (untitled)
Tragic Bunny - Majestic Thursday
John Morgan - Small Steps
Remora - Nonoxen
Things Outside the Skin - Lincoln's Head
Ken42R - Mrs. Murphy's Blues

(from liner notes) "I'm a New Yorker, teaching in North Carolina, by way of a Massachusetts teaching certification. That may not mean much to you. Teaching America's teenagers is a daunting profession...not a popular one. The money's no motivation, nor is the active devaluing of education by a frighteningly increasing number of the families of those we teach. Some teachers are parents, some teachers are not. But regardless of their nearness to biological progeny, good teachers--those who will be fondly remembered for having actually taught something with human meaning--all do it for the same reason: it's for the kids. James E. Holmes Middle School is situated in what used to be a thriving tobacco and textile county in North Carolina. Nowadays, tobacco is seldom a reliable cash-crop, and the bedding industry rethought its allegiances and left the US. Loss of hope, despair, and desperation are much more prevalent than is fashionable to publicly acknowledge. Our basketball hoops and backboards are rusty and rotten. Your purchase of this disc directly aids in renovating equipment at one public school. It also directly aids your mind. Here is something you can teach yourself to use."
-B.H.Hart
educator/improvisor

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